Indoor and outdoor controlled agricultural environments are used to increase crop production and reliability. Controlled agricultural environments, for example, protect crops from natural disasters and draught, more effectively utilize land, decrease water consumption, effectively grow crops normally out of season or in otherwise non-ideal environments, and reduce insects, birds, and micro-organisms from destroying crops while reducing the use of pesticides. Some controlled agricultural environments use hydroponic systems. Some examples of such systems and methods are: U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,977; PCT Publ. No. WO2004093527; and PCT Publ. No. WO2014009842.
One type of hydroponic system, in particular, that is currently used is aquaponics. Typically, aquaponic systems utilize a symbiotic integration of aquaculture (such as raising aquatic animals including snails, fish, crayfish, prawns, or the like in tanks) and hydroponics (such as cultivating plants in water). In aquaponic systems, such as recirculating aquaponic (RA) systems, liquid effluent (such as a liquid rich in plant nutrients and derived from fish manure, decomposing organic matter, and nitrogenous waste excreted from fish fertilizes hydroponic bed) provides nourishing elements to grow plants.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptual example of an RA system 100. As illustrated, the system 100 includes a fish-rearing tank 105, a suspended solids removal unit 110, a biofilter 115, a hydroponic subsystem 120, and a sump 125. Effluent liquid from the fish-rearing tank 105 is treated in the suspended solids removal unit 110. The effluent liquid, now cultured water, is treated at the biofilter 115 using nitrification to remove ammonia and nitrite. The water then flows to the hydroponic subsystem 120 where some dissolved nutrients are taken up by plants and additional ammonia and nitrite are removed by bacteria growing on the sides of a tank in the hydroponic subsystem 120. After exiting the hydroponic subsystem 120, the water collects in the sump 125 and is returned to the fish-rearing tank 105.
To implement this, there are a variety of techniques that can also employed. Some examples of these techniques are:                Deep water culture (DWC) where a floatation devices positions crops on the surface of a water basin (where the water can be recirculated);        Nutrient film technique (NFT) where a sloped basin drips or trickles liquid effluent or water to crops positioned along the basin;        Ebb and Flow (EB) (or a Flood Drain technique) where crop roots are suspended above the media bed containing nutrient rich water. When the nutrient rich water reaches the upper threshold height, the nutrient rich water drains from the media bed into a drainage bed positioned below the media bed until the height of the nutrient rich water falls to a lower threshold height;        Aeroponics where crop roots are suspended in a growing chamber with spray nozzles which spray nutrient rich water onto the roots;        Drip system where nutrient rich water is dripped onto the crops (similar to commonly used drip irrigation systems) and the waste water is recirculated; and        Wick system where nutrient rich water is introduced to growing trays through the use of a wick.Additionally, the following documents and standards descriptions are hereby incorporated by reference herein: James E. Rakocy, Michael P. Masser, and Thomas M. Losordo, “Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture,” November 2006 Revision, Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC) Publication No. 454 (REF 1); Fox, B. K., Tamaru, C. S., Hollyer, J., Castro, L. F., Fonseca, J. M., Jay-Russell, M., & Low, T. (2012). A Preliminary Study of Microbial Water Quality Related to Food Safety in Recirculating Aquaponic Fish and Vegetable Production Systems. University of Hawai'i at Manoa (REF 2); Burden, D. Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. July 2013 (REF 3); Wire, B. Research and Markets: 2012 Report Analyzing the Fertilizer Industry in United States 2011-2016. Mar. 16, 2012. (REF 4); United States Government Publishing Office—Public Law 111-353—Jan. 4, 2011, 124 STAT. 3885 (REF 5).        
There is, however, one common issue that plagues hydroponics and agriculture in general, and that is labor. Agriculture is (in general) labor intensive in that it often requires the touch of human hands. Therefore, there is a need for a method and/or apparatus for automating hydroponics.